Help! Stolen Macbook Pro from my checked in Suitcase..what to do?

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Hello,

I recently took a flight on US airways from London to philadelphia and then to a southern city. In London, I was told I could only have one carry on item. Therefore, I had to put my laptop case and the macbook pro inside it into my check in suitcase.

When I got to my final destination, I found that my lock had been broken and someone had taken the MBP and its adaptor out of the case.

I contacted the airline but still have no response.

Any ideas on what to do?

This happened about 3 days ago.

I extended the applecare so maybe I could somehow use that number in case someone ever tries to get it fixed?

I am not blaming the airline..a TSA employee could have taken it.

Any suggestions would be welcome..I am very distraught as I had important info on there.

Much thanks!
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 22
    dfilerdfiler Posts: 3,420member
    Unfortunately, I don't think airlines are legally responsible for checked luggage. They're also pretty unlikely to compensate you with anything other than some kind of coupon or credit.
  • Reply 2 of 22
    First I would mail, fax and call usair with the copy of the recipt, demand to talk to supervisors. They will tell you they are not liable, but if you are a real pain they may give in. At least offer you vouchers. Also, probably more trouble than it's worth, but i did read of someone being successful with taking US air to small claims court. They failed to show and the person was awarded the full 5k they were seeking.



    Second, do you have any coverage through your home owners/renters insurance for items stolen outside your home. Does the credit card you purchased the laptop offer anything?



    Last, not that it will help with the stolen laptop, but you can get lojack installed in your future one. There are also hidden apps you can install that email the IP addess yo an account, any time the computer hooks to the internet.
  • Reply 3 of 22
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member
    You're basically fucked.



    You were stupid to have checked anything valuable in your luggage. It's extremely common for things to get stolen out of checked luggage. I'm afraid the only thing you can really do about it is support a harder course of action towards knocking-out islamic terrorist cells.
  • Reply 4 of 22
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    Check your travel insurance policy if you bought it. Also if you bought your plane ticket on credit card you may have some automatic travel insurance from your credit card company.
  • Reply 5 of 22
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nikon123 View Post


    First I would mail, fax and call usair with the copy of the recipt, demand to talk to supervisors. They will tell you they are not liable, but if you are a real pain they may give in. At least offer you vouchers. Also, probably more trouble than it's worth, but i did read of someone being successful with taking US air to small claims court. They failed to show and the person was awarded the full 5k they were seeking.



    Second, do you have any coverage through your home owners/renters insurance for items stolen outside your home. Does the credit card you purchased the laptop offer anything?



    Last, not that it will help with the stolen laptop, but you can get lojack installed in your future one. There are also hidden apps you can install that email the IP addess yo an account, any time the computer hooks to the internet.



    yeah, it's hard to decide. if you insist, you may win, but with a considerable price.
  • Reply 6 of 22
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Splinemodel View Post


    I'm afraid the only thing you can really do about it is support a harder course of action towards knocking-out islamic terrorist cells.



    Yes, all of those islamic terrorist cells who are stealing laptops from checked luggage.



    Those ones.
  • Reply 7 of 22
    alecralecr Posts: 33member
    What's sad is how frequent this happens and that nothing is being done about it.
  • Reply 8 of 22
    sammi josammi jo Posts: 4,634member
    Don't E V E R check anything of value, if humanly possible. Just because the DHS (TSA) is a government agency, this does not mean that the people employed there are any more honest or reliable than if they were employed by a private contractor. Considering that so many people (tens of thousands) have filed complaints, and that so few TSA officials have been busted for theft, speaks volumes. Perhaps its a "perk" of the job? Is the DHS/TSA (un)policeable?



    Laptops of course are a prime target for crooks working for TSA/DHS. I had an incident happen myself a couple of years ago; flying back into LAX, my suitcase never appeared on the carousel, or more accurately it did, but it was unrecognizable as it was bound with numerous bands of grey duct-tape. I watched it make numerous circuits of the baggage carousel (thinking that passenger's not going to be very pleased) together with the rest of the suitcases, until it was the last item, and I was the last passenger. I was about to make a 'lost bag' claim with the airline, when I glanced a part of a brightly colored rainbow sticker peeking out from under the duct-tape on this one remaining suitcase, or rather, what was left of it. Pulling it off the carousel, and removing the duct-tape, I discovered that my case was completely destroyed (and this was a Samsonite case), and numerous items were missing, from a box of my favorite CDs, even some underwear. There was also a single leather shoe in amongst my belongings which was not mine. (!) By now angry (read "furious and feeling violated"), I went to the airline's desk and in a testy fashion (read "heated"), I described what had happened. The man behind the counter went to great lengths to dissuade me from marching into the TSA office and giving the officials there a piece of my mind at 130dBa: He explained that such a course of action (a) would definitely not bring back the missing items, (b) they might even call the airport police and have me arrested, or (c) I could possibly find myself unable to fly without "escort" in future (whatever the hell that means). I was informed that my only choice was to file a complaint with TSA through their "official channels", but there was no guarantee of any response, or refund for the missing items and property damage. Well, I took that advice, and what kind of a response did I get? Zero. How predictable.



    In my book, the TSA acronym means:

    Trash your bags, Steal the contents, Assume no responsibility.
  • Reply 9 of 22
    Funny enough, I had the same thing happen... from the same airport... and I had a TSA lock... hmmm....
  • Reply 10 of 22
    bageljoeybageljoey Posts: 2,004member
    Well, I can't help you, trajichero, but I can commiserate. I know what it feels like to loose something important from checked luggage. One of the worst things about it is that everyone keeps telling you that you were a fool for checking it... Yeah, we know that know! We even knew it beforehand--it was just one quick mistake...



    For me, it was camera. I had just spend 3 months traveling thorugh Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras by bus. I protected my valuables (passport, camera, wallet) with every carefull precaution every day for three months. When I crossed the border in Texas and caught a Greyhound bus to NC I let my guard down. The camera went into my checked bag--something I would never have done in the previous 100 days.

    Somewhere in Lousiana we changed busses. I remember watching as we pulled away, knowing that my bags were still under the old bus. I immediately questioned the driver and he said "don't worry, your bags will get there."

    Well, he was right. My bags were in NC before me. I do not know how they passed us and if there was a faster or more direct bus, why wasn't I on it?

    Anyway, in a panic I opened my bag and there was my camera bag. Relief. But when I opened it, not only was my camera gone, but 10 rolls of exposed film had carefully been removed. Bastards! I could buy another camera, but that film--recording three extraordinary months of my life--gone forever. Probably just dumped the second they realized it was exposed. I still don't know why they went through all the trouble to take everything out and leave the camera bag...



    I just hate that it happened. I hate that I made the mistake of thinking "back in the USA=everything all right." I hate that it happened in slow motion--I went a thousand miles knowing that my bag and camera were out of my control... I hate that there was nothing I could do--The guy at Greyhound I talked to said "Why the hell would you check your camera bag on a Greyhound bus?"

    Damn, why did you have to bring all this back...
  • Reply 11 of 22
    My friends camera was stolen out of her luggage -- turns out it was baggage handlers. Anyway, I never check anything of value.
  • Reply 12 of 22
    zoetmbzoetmb Posts: 2,654member
    Try one other thing, especially if it was stolen in the same State in which you live: call your local Congressperson and your Senator's office. Tell them you're fed up with all the stories you hear about TSA thefts and you want to know why they can't be held liable. You never know who they might put you in touch with. Or, there actually might be some "secret" way of making a claim against the TSA.



    Also, if you haven't already, you should file a police report. You'll need that for your insurance company anyway and if you want to itemize the theft loss on your taxes.
  • Reply 13 of 22
    What someone needs to do is do the applescript that makes the iSight on a MBP or MB take a picture when it turns on and then upload the pictures to your iDisk or Flicker or something. I volunteer, if someone can give me the script.
  • Reply 14 of 22
    aplnubaplnub Posts: 2,605member
    That is not a half bad idea. Put a wide open login WIFI blasting ibook and let it go. I would throw some money in the pot for this. Why don't we get a group together to try expose and prosecute one prick. We could post everything online to for all to see. The possibilities are endless.
  • Reply 15 of 22
    Airlines are the most blatantly irresponsible corporations on the face of the planet. They consistently lose, damage, or steal items from luggage, and barely a cent has been repaid.



    I've always wanted to be a pilot... I would love to fly on an airplane...



    But I will never take a commercial flight unless all I'm taking with me is clothes and carry-on. F*ck that.
  • Reply 16 of 22
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Samnuva View Post


    What someone needs to do is do the applescript that makes the iSight on a MBP or MB take a picture when it turns on and then upload the pictures to your iDisk or Flicker or something. I volunteer, if someone can give me the script.



    There is something out there already. Undercover is one of them and I was given a link to (but can't find) another free version.
  • Reply 17 of 22
    aplnubaplnub Posts: 2,605member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by turtle2472 View Post


    There is something out there already. Undercover is one of them and I was given a link to (but can't find) another free version.



    We have found the program, now lets pass the hat.



    Who can we trust to collect the money and get this done? It would be fun as an experiment that is for sure.
  • Reply 18 of 22
    tulkastulkas Posts: 3,757member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Samnuva View Post


    What someone needs to do is do the applescript that makes the iSight on a MBP or MB take a picture when it turns on and then upload the pictures to your iDisk or Flicker or something. I volunteer, if someone can give me the script.



    iAlert and an Applescript to fire of the pictures to an FTP site works very well. I think iAlert is still free.

    Lifehacker
  • Reply 19 of 22
    shawnjshawnj Posts: 6,656member
    When my brother was in college, his iPod was stolen by one of the IT people.



    He didn't know who did it, but somehow he found out from Apple that the person sent the iPod in for repairs under its warrantee. You'd think a college systems administrator or whatever he did as a living would know better, but apparently not. The college reimbursed him for a new iPod and fired the employee. Pretty awesome ending to the story.
  • Reply 20 of 22
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tulkas View Post


    iAlert and an Applescript to fire of the pictures to an FTP site works very well. I think iAlert is still free.

    Lifehacker



    This is the one I was thinking of.
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